Do Good Work. Work and Live Intentionally.

#30DayChallenge

01/04/2014

I think that it is easy, especially at the beginning of the year to set your intentions too high. You are uber pumped to get after things. You want to see real change. Change seems possible. So you create all of these outrageous goals for yourself. YOu are going to travel, your business is going to quadruple, you are going to have the gumption to stand up for what you really believe and you are going to lose all of that weight.

These are all great concepts, but with that first of the year high they might be a little off base. BEcause, just like a drug addict knows, you eventually have to come down from that high.

Let's try a different way at looking at the possibilities of the year. What twelve new habits could I introduce into my life and my business that would make things better? What if I tackled one of these a month with small incremental actions?

This is pretty much how the 30 Day Challenge started. I created a free Facebook group for people to be accountable to thier new habits. It is super simple stuff. One person is going to drink water each day. Another one might be thinking they want to go to bed on time. Another is moving every day. These aren't massive ideas, but they will fundamentally change their life.

One of my hopes is that we help, encourage, and motivate one another to be our best selves. We all need a team rooting for us and the 30 Day Challenge group is open to anyone interested in tackeling some new habits, wants a little accountability, and is ready for a big dose of encouragement.

01/02/2014

Some years start with a bang and a rush to get things started, but this year, for me, has started quieter and with more thoughtfulness. Not a bad thing, just different.

I am participating in Ali Edwards' One Little Word again this year (last year my word was Focus) and my word is True. After playing around with a host of words (hustle, sexy, desire, quest, bloom, etc.) I decided that what I really wanted was to find my true center, seek my true north, and above all be true to myself. You will see more about this process on the blog.

I am kicking off the year by doing a 30 Day Challenge of sitting every day. Anywhere from 10 - 45 minutes of meditation. No excuses, butt on the cushion. I'll be photographing that and posting my view from the meditation cushion on Instagram with #30DayChallenge. You can join our free Facebook group to do your OWN 30 Day Challenge. Just message me and I'll hook you up.

Other changes that we have planned as a family is a year of home improvement and intential projects. We live in a tiny house that is over 125 years old and needs some tender loving care. Each month there will be a different focus. This month we are planning out our garden. It's cold with intermittent snow/ice and so this seemed like a nice bright project for cold winter nights. Next month we are removing 100 things from the house or property. I will document this #tinyhouse on Instagram, Twitter and here on the blog.

I am working on two books; one a children's series for littles and one a personal/professional development book. I enrolled in a January workshop at the Village Writing School to get a jump start on tackling the blank page.

There will be many more challenges, projects and plans for 2014, but for now I am content to be starting off slowly and true to my spirit. Happy new year to you and yours!

12/12/2013

Georgiaberry, who blogs at Sunshine for Dinner, sent me this message asking questions about how I am managing this challenge to post daily in our FREE 30 Day Challenge group this week and kindly allowed me to answer it here on my blog.

Q: You are rocking this 30 challenge with your blogging! How did you approach this challenge? Do you have it all planned out, what you are going to write for each day? Are you writing several posts at once, or how did you manage your time to accomplish 30 straight days? And how is it different than how you usually approach your blogging schedule?

A: Well, Ms. G. Good questions. I am pretty sure you will be surprised by my answers, but here it goes.

How did you approach this challenge? I knew this was something I just wanted to do and decided the challenge was a way to get me motivated.

Do you have it all planned out, what you are going to write for each day? I have no plan. Seriously. I keep a note pad with a place for me to write ideas down, but I'm not using an editorial calendar or anything else. I just want to come up with an idea and execute it.

Are you writing several posts at once, or how did you manage your time to accomplish 30 straight days? I am writing one post at a time and it usually takes me all day to finish it. I get the concept in the morning and then the ideas sit around in my head while I do other work. After dinner I have been pushing them out.

And how is it different than how you usually approach your blogging schedule? It is WAY different. I use an editorial calendar, I structure what I want to write, I try to hit keywords, etc. But what I am finding is that I will procrastinate all of that and not actually write the posts because it FEELS like work. This feels like a challenge and fun so I have NO trouble doing it. Lesson there? Probably. If you don't LOVE it you won't DO it... at least I won't.

Her response: That is so funny because it is exactly the opposite of what I thought you would say. I thought you would tell me all about your planning and sticking to your calendar etc etc and I could just file that away as another confirmation of what I think I should be doing and am not. The joke's on me. I really admire what you are doing and I am looking forward to the next twenty days of your posts.

Are you trying to create new habits? You can always join our free #30DayChallenge group by sending me a message or leaving a comment. You can also pop over to Facebook, leave me a message and I can add you to the group. They changes people are making have been extraordinary. Give yourself the gift of accountability this year and join us!